Tag Archives: Josh Satin

The Mets said they need more time to get an understanding of what’s going on with Ike Davis in order to make a decision on what to do with him

From Sandy Alderson on down these are professional baseball people with decades of experience. How can they not know Davis isn’t giving them anything; that he’s in a horrendous slump with shattered confidence?

DAVIS: One of four walks back to the dugout.

Manager Terry Collins doesn’t know how much longer the Mets can live with Davis’ non-production, especially since they are getting little elsewhere.

“He took batting practice when they stopped the game.’’ Collins said. “He got in the cage. So I know it’s wearing on him. These players get to the big leagues because they’re very talented guys. They haven’t had to deal with much failure in their whole lives. When you deal with what he’s going through right now, it’s pretty hard to take it, because you’ve never been there before.’’

Davis said he needs to figure it out on this level and won’t get anything out of playing in the minor leagues. This is his primary problem. Like an alcoholic won’t get better until he admits to a problem, Davis won’t improve until he admits he needs reconstructive hitting surgery.

Major League pitchers, even mediocre ones, smell a hitter’s weaknesses and Davis has plenty. He’s vulnerable to fastballs high and breaking pitches low and away, meaning unless Davis gets a grooved fastball down the middle he’s not going to do anything. He didn’t get anything Friday night, striking out all four times. It was his third four-strikeout game this season, and has fallen to .143 in a 1-for-42 slide.

Slumps such Davis’ can make or break a player. Mickey Mantle slumped early in his career and considered quitting before his father lectured him. Mantle figured it out in the minor leagues and developed into one of the game’s greatest players.

Davis is on pace to strike out 195 times, but give the Mets only 15 homers, and worse, just 33 RBI. He already has 53 strikeouts compared to a combined 37 hits and walks. In just 1,318 career at-bats in 382 games, he has a staggering 363 strikeouts.

By contrast, Joe DiMaggio is known for his 56-game hitting streak, but nearly almost impressive in his 13-year career are just 369 strikeouts with 361 home runs.

Yes, the game has changed since DiMaggio’s time. There’s no longer a stigma to striking out, but it is as if Davis doesn’t care. Here is where he and other players today are simply wrong in their approach and aren’t being trained properly in developing a sound hitting plan. Despite today’s huge individual contracts, this remains a team sport. Strikeouts are a wasted at bat, where so many potential things can happen – including more hits, homers and RBI – when a ball is put into play.

I don’t care if it is Zach Lutz, or Josh Satin, who is not on the 40-man roster, or Wilmer Flores, who is no getting a start at first base at Triple-A Las Vegas, but somebody has to play first base for the Mets until Davis gets his head, and swing, straight.

Perhaps Sandy Alderson knew of Andrew Brown’s strained oblique when he said there was nothing imminent about sending Ike Davis to the minor leagues. Assuming he did not, it is puzzling as to why he’s in no hurry to ship out his struggling first baseman.

Eventually, Alderson said, “everything comes to a head at some point,’’ but evidently it is not hitting .156 two months into the season. Either are Davis’ other miserable numbers.

Alderson said he’s interested not in results, but good at-bats. Sounds good in theory, but that won’t happen if Davis’ thinking doesn’t change, and there’s no indication of it happening soon.

About the minor leagues, Davis said that would not help because he needs to learn to hit at this level. Davis insists he’s a home run hitter, that he likes to hit home runs and strikeouts are part of the equation.

I can’t scream “that’s crap,’’ loud enough. Davis is so married to his pull-everything approach that improvement is almost impossible to attain.

Davis’ extraordinary wide stance offers no alternatives but to lunge, and he doesn’t have the discipline to lay off breaking balls down and away and fastballs up in the zone. Davis’ mechanics and approach must be torn down and built back up. It could take a month for that to happen, and it shouldn’t be a month up here.

Incredibly, Davis said he’s having positive at-bats, that in Chicago he just missed driving a few balls. But, the fact is he missed those pitches so they can’t be considered good at-bats. It isn’t as if he’s hit a lot of balls on the screws or driven them to the warning track.

Davis was 1-for-24 on the trip to St. Louis and Chicago; is hitting .103 (4-for-39) with runners in scoring position; and is on pace for 177 strikeouts.

So, you tell me how his getting out of his funk.

When he first came up, Davis showed a willingness to go to the opposite field. There’s none of that now.

Davis said he’s still playing good defense, but he’s delusional there, too. He should have been given an error when he short-armed Ruben Tejada’s wild throw in the dirt in Chicago. The ball did not take a short hop and was something he should have snared.

He was also flat out lazy Monday night on a obstruction call that opened the door to a big inning for Cincinnati in the first inning.

Davis’ head isn’t screwed on straight and he’s fallen into a myriad of bad habits that preclude good at-bats. Davis anticipates getting a month to work out of his funk, but how much lower will the Mets sink in that time?

For the past three years, the Mets had to settle for lousy at-bats and performance from Jason Bay because of his salary. Currently, Alderson plans to have the Mets settling from horrid performance from Davis despite a manageable contract.

OK, Brown is out, but what about Zach Lutz? What about making a move and adding Josh Satin to the 40-man roster?

It doesn’t matter what they do, except for standing pat, and Alderson hasn’t given a good reason for choosing that route. That decision is doing a disservice to the Mets and not helping Davis any, either.

As usual, your comments are always welcome and I will attempt to answer them. Please follow me on Twitter @jdelcos

We are getting perilously close to the time in the baseball season where free-falling clubs tend to fire their manager. Should the Mets sack Terry Collins in the wake of his ripping the fans – who by the way, aren’t coming out to Citi Field these days – they can claim justifiability, but would be making a mistake.

Like many quick-fixes, it will not work. Despite Collins’ outburst, firing him is not the answer as it screams panic.

ALDERSON: Some action needed.

As the appearance is things spiraling out of control, the Mets desperately need to show signs of stability and reiterate the growth process. Sacking the manager does not achieve this goal.

General manager Sandy Alderson needs to take several steps to show the fan base there is a plan, and it has to entail more than asking for patience and talking about a supposedly increased payroll after this season.

The first thing Alderson must do is speak out in defense of his manager. Jordany Valdespin isn’t being hung out to dry, it is Collins. Alderson must say Collins is his man and his job is not in jeopardy.

Supporting Collins also entails ridding the Mets of the topic, which set him off in the first place, and that is Valdespin. If Alderson can’t trade Valdespin, whose value is low, then designated him for assignment. Don’t bother sending him down because you don’t want to pollute a farm team with his selfish, punkish attitude. Get rid of him, and if he comes back to bite the Mets in the butt, so be it.

You will notice an immediate cleansing in the clubhouse. The Mets spoke about changing the culture of the franchise, and that should include getting rid of that kind of attitude. One can’t help but notice neither Collins nor Alderson care for Valdespin, and for whatever talent he has, he’s not worth the trouble.

Next, send down Ike Davis and Lucas Duda until they show signs of understanding how to hit. I keep hearing there’s nothing down below that can help. Well, how will they know unless they try?

Clearly, Davis and Duda aren’t getting it done on the major league level and the pressure is only increasing. When they get home, they will hear boos and that won’t help. It will be like Jason Bay all over again, but in two positions.

The Mets aren’t going to make a trade or sign anybody now, so let’s see what is below. If you don’t want to screw with Wilmer Flores changing positions, I understand. But, let’s look at Josh Satin. Or Zach Lutz. Or any Little Leaguer in the Tri-State area. I’m just tired of watching strikeout after strikeout.

Davis shows no signs of patience or understanding of the strike zone and Duda has regressed from a promising start. Maybe these guys are the future, but they certainly aren’t the present. And, it is obvious they aren’t learning anything up here.

Finally, Alderson should flat out say Zack Wheeler is not coming up and it is because of his contract status. We all know about Super Two, so let’s stop the charade. Putting a date on Wheeler will eliminate the distracting groundswell, which has included Wally Backman’s muddying projection.

Collins’ status, Valdespin, Davis, Duda and Wheeler are all distractions that could be eliminated by forceful actions from Alderson.

Just do it.

As always, your comments are greatly appreciated and I will attempt to answer them.

On the morning after, Johan Santana said he felt good and would throw a bullpen session tomorrow. Each day is another hurdle, and it isn’t a stretch to say tomorrow’s pen might be more important than yesterday’s start.

The Mets are already planning April’s rotation. There are two versions of it, one with Santana and one without. The one with Santana will be such that each start comes with an extra day of rest. With the off-days in April, that shouldn’t be difficult.

Santana threw mostly in the 87-88 range, but with more strengthening could boost that slightly. Important, however, was he maintained roughly a 10 mph. difference between his fastball and change-up.

* Reliever Pedro Beato has stiffness in his shoulder and will undergo a MRI.

* Outfielder Scott Hairston will be out for at least two weeks with a strained oblique muscle (he took a cortisone injection this week). It is very possible Hairston could open the season on the disabled list. As of now, Kirk Nieuwenhuis does not appear to be an option as a bench player.

Here’s today’s lineup against the Marlins:

Ruben Tejada, ss

Daniel Murphy, 2b

Justin Turner, 3b

Lucas Duda, rf

Josh Satin, 1b

Josh Thole, dh

Cesar Puello, lf

Mike Nickeas, c

Matt den Dekker, cf

Jon Niese, lhp

Note: Jose Reyes isn’t expected to play today, but could face his former team tomorrow.